


Telara Prompts

by queen_scribbles



Series: 73 Minutes [5]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 18:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17027478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Prompt fills from tumblr for Tel and Elara





	1. "Just pretend to be my date"

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after In Good Hands, the piece where Tel loses his leg

 

“You can’t be serious.”

Elara could only hear one side of the conversation her captain was having as she approached, but he did _not_ sound happy.

“So there’s not really a choice, is there?” He sighed in resignation. “We’ll be there, sir.”

The holo image of General Garza was just fading from view as Elara entered the room. “What was that about, Captain?”

He turned and smiled when he saw her. “That, Dorne, was politics at its finest. Now that the pirates have been dealt with and I’m ‘on the mend’-” he rapped his knuckles against the gangly cybernetic leg- “there’s some muckety-mucks on Coruscant who wanna ‘honor’ Havoc. Probably pretend it was their idea to begin with, sending us in to save the poor defenseless settlement.” 

“ _All_ of Havoc, sir?” Elara asked, raising an eyebrow. That would be an unusual departure from standard procedure.

“As represented by your dashing commanding officer,” he conceded, sarcastically angling a thumb at himself.

“Absolutely not, sir! You’re healing, but not nearly ready for something like that,” Elara protested.

“Well then,” he said, grinning as he leaned back against the holoprojector. “You can come with me.”

“I- What?!” She blinked at him in confusion, trying to convince herself her increased heart rate was from surprise, not… something else.

“Just pretend to be my date,” he shrugged. “You own a dress, right? Or at least dress uniform? It’ll be fun.”

“T- Captain, I’m not sure we have the same definition of fun, sir.” She tried to sound firm, she really did, but an edge of levity crept in. “Also, I’m fairly sure Command would frown on our… fraternizing.”

“Ah, but you’re only _pretending_ to be my date. For the non-military types. You’ll actually be keeping an eye on me, so I don’t keel over at a horribly embarrassing moment.” He was grinning even wider now. “And, hey, if you decided I need to leave early for medical reasons, I doubt anyone would argue with your _expert_ opinion.”

She couldn’t help but grin in return to his teasing drawl. “You have yourself a deal, Captain. Now you get back to bed before you exhaust yourself and are unable to attend.”

“Because that would be a crying shame,” he deadpanned, but did as she said.

It was as she watched him make his careful, measured way down the hallway, still adjusting to the prosthetic limb that something occurred to her. _He said we. **We’ll** be there. That trickster planned this from the start. _Elara couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed at him.

Even when he turned around and shot her a grin that said he knew she was onto him.


	2. "I hope you're feeling better"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> set after the Gauntlet mission

Elara hadn’t known it was possible to be this bored, and she’d had to sit through the tedious, months-long process of being cleared to join the Republic military with Imperial service on her record. But the headaches made her eyes cross when she tried to read, and the doctors were insistent she ‘ _take it easy_ ’ for  _‘just a little while longer_ ’, so she couldn’t even get out of bed. This despite the fact it had been almost two weeks since the Gauntlet mission, and aside from the headaches and some other lingering sore spots, she was mostly healed up.  The doctors on Coruscant wanted to make sure she was really healthy before they released her back to active duty. While she could understand and appreciate the concern, when she had nothing to do but stare at the ceiling, the situation got old very quickly. She’d already counted all the ceiling tiles(247) and figured out the wavering pattern of the faulty light out in the hall(two quick blinks, then a longer stutter, repeated every couple minutes), and she was going stir-crazy.

She tried picking up her datapad to read the transcript of a recent lecture on kolto advances, but the familiar knot of tension between her eyebrows quickly returned, and she dropped the datapad with a huff. “Oh, this is hopeless…”

“What’s hopeless? Not you, I… well, hope.” 

Funny how one person could brighten your entire day. Elara smiled so broadly it hurt her face. “Cap- Major, sir, what are you doing here?”

“Just came to check in on my favorite medic,” Tel grinned, leaning against the doorframe until she motioned him into the room. 

“I’m your _only_ medic,” she corrected fondly, patting the bed next to her.

“Jorgan’s full of surprises,” Tel informed her as he sat. “He’s not nearly as good as you, obviously, but he knows basics, so we’ve managed.” He leaned closer and kissed her forehead. “All the same, I hope you’re feeling better.”

“Mmm, I am now, thanks,” Elara murmured, eyes fluttering briefly closed at the brush of lips against skin. “The headaches are still a problem, thanks to the concussion, and my left shoulder is still a bit stiff, but I’m hoping to be cleared for duty soon.”

“Need me to kiss it better?” Tel whispered, impish glint in his eye.

“Better not, sir. Just to be safe.” She couldn’t keep the reluctance out of her voice, all the same, sliding one hand up his wrist until her fingers were under his sleeve, rubbing small circles against his skin. “It’s best we don’t flaunt our relationship while in a military hospital.”

“You’ll need to add a little enthusiasm if you want me to buy that, Dorne,” Tel chuckled, lightly tugging the end of her thick, black ponytail as he kissed his way across from temple to temple. “B’sides, my kisses have healing properties.”

She schooled (most of) the amusement from her tone and quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And the medical community is not yet aware of this breakthrough…. why, exactly?”

“Because… because it only works for people I care about.” He kissed the end of her nose. “But you’re probably right. Hate to get a black mark on our records when we just earned medals and a promotion not too long ago…. I better be on my best behavior.”

Elara rolled her eyes. “And in other news, nexu have sprouted wings and started flying.”

“I’m hurt by your lack of faith in me,” Tel said, trying to look wounded, but too close to laughing to actually pull it off. “Absolutely devastated.”

“Yes, I can tell,” she said dryly, giving his arm a squeeze. “I have plenty of faith in you in other areas and you know it, _Major_. But you and I both know your definition of ‘best behavior’ and Command’s definition of best behavior don’t exactly line up.”

“True. Well, I was going to hang around for a bit and fill you in on what we’ve been up to while you were stuck here, but if that would be inappropriate, I can just wait until you’re back to active duty…” He moved as if to stand, and Elara caught his wrist.

“That would be fine, sir,” she assured him, not letting go. “And I would appreciate a distraction from counting ceiling tiles yet again.”

“Well, in that case, I suppose I can stay for a little while….” Tel grinned, settling in.

_‘A little while_ ’ wound up being two hours. Neither of them minded.


	3. Hurt/comfort prompt "I got you. It's gonna be okay. You're going to be okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's set somewhere between the end of the main game and RotHC, I never did nail down a specific time.

He should have expected this. There was an unofficial military proverb that cautioned even the best of plans didn’t usually survive ten minutes in the field. And Tel’s strategy for crippling the Imperial garrison on Taanab could hardly be called ‘the best of plans’. It really shouldn’t surprise him that it had literally blown up in his face.

He coughed, winced at the pain that shot through his chest, and tested his comms. “Anybody… anybody there?”

Static answered the rasping question.

_So that would be a no on comms,_ he thought grimly, testing his range of motion with each limb. He could feel broken fingers on one hand, but all the other flesh and blood joints seemed to be mostly alright. He right leg gave him some trouble; gears in his knee whirring more loudly than usual, hip joint slow to respond, but that too seemed largely functional.

So. Aside from the broken fingers and cracked ribs–and anything else he couldn’t see–he was okay. Just trapped beneath half a building’s worth of rubble. He’d had worse days.

The faint sound of digging and muffled shouts reached him, and Tel instinctively tried to move closer. His cracked ribs flared with white hot pain, and the non-cybernetic ankle appeared to be wedged between two chunks of duracrete. _Okay, okay, bad idea._ He lay still until the pain subsided, hearing Elara’s voice in his head, cautioning against exertion when he didn’t know the extent of his injuries. But if they were looking for him, they were digging in the wrong place.

Another coughing fit seized him as he weighed his options, and when it passed he tasted blood. That was enough to goad him into trying something. Internal bleeding put him on a much tighter clock than simple broken bones. It took far more concentration than it should have to pull back his leg and kick at the rubble surrounding him. Not the best of plans, no, but with no comms and unable to draw a full breath, it was his only option.

Tel raised an arm to shield his face as the rubble shifted. One spot cleared all the way through and he squinted at the light. _This is going to hurt._ He took the deepest breath he could manage and hollered one word. “ _Here_!”

There was a flurry of activity and someone called down. “Major?”

His chest hurt. All he could manage was a groan. But it was enough, as immediately the hole started widening.

“Hold on! Stay still!” That was Elara.

Tel closed his eye in relief that she was alright. _So tired…_

“No, no, Major, stay awake, stay with me!” She sounded almost panicked. “I know it probably hurts, but you have to stay awake! Just a few more minutes!”

He could do that. For her. Just a few more minutes. And so he did. Until the hole was wide enough Elara shimmied her way down next to him. “Hey… Els.”

She didn’t scold him for being unprofessional in the field, which wasn’t a good sign.

“That bad, huh?” Stars, he wanted to whimper so bad. “Can’t… can’t be worse than Trestal Five,” he managed, babbling–even though it hurt–in a losing battle to stay awake.

“It’s not. It is a close second, however,” Elara murmured, digging her diagnostic scanner out of her medkit with quiet impatience. “But I’ve got you now, darling. It’ll be alright.” The scanner beeped and she seemed to wilt a little in relief when she looked at the display. “ _You’re_ going to be alright.”

“I… know,” Tel said hoarsely. He was _so tired_. “I’m… in good hands…”

This time no amount of cajoling from Elara could keep him awake.

>>>><<<<

He woke a few hours later in the Republic medcenter, to chest pain and Elara asleep in the chair by his bed. She started awake when he brushed her hand with his own.

“Told you you’d be alright,” she smiled, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek.

“I had every confidence in you,” Tel said with a grin of his own. Smiling hurt, and a quick glance in the mirror showed why. His face was littered with small cuts and bruises. They went nicely with the bacta patches that lined his left arm and the splinted-together fingers.  “Damn, I’m a mess.”

“It’s a good look for you,” Elara teased, and he gave himself a headache with how fast he whipped around to look at her.

“Owwww,” he griped.

She giggled. “Sorry, love.”

He tried to laugh, but it quickly turned to cough. “Mmm, why’s it feel like there’s a manka cat sitting on my chest?”

“Probably because you had a partially collapsed lung. And have several broken ribs.” Elara kissed his forehead. “But you’ll be fine.”

“And here I was thinking it’s ‘cause you leave me breathless,” Tel quipped.

Elara rolled her eyes as she leaned in to give him a real kiss. “Yes, you’ll _definitely_ be fine.”


	4. "You did all this for me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set post-game

Elara usually wasn’t one to complain. Days like this, however, pushed her rather close. Due to a pair of Imperial sabotage strikes, she’d been informed her visiting time with Aleksei was being cut down to one hour for the week, and that limitation would remain until Republic brass felt it safe to rescind. And while she’d vented plenty to Tel, a rant she feared had been far too heavy on the ‘ _Woe is me_ ’ and far too long, she didn’t dare so much as mention it to the official who oversaw her visits to her brother for fear they’d be cut off entirely. 

And, really, any time time got to spend with Aleksei was more than she’d thought she would ever get. So she went, and put on a smile, and made small talk with her brother for an hour. She wasn’t allowed to hug him goodbye, of course. But she kept up her smile until she’d left the Senate Tower.

Even as her shoulder slumped, she heard a beep from her private comlink. A small but genuine smile curved Elara’s lips when she answered it. “I’m on my way back to the ship now, dearest.”

“About that…” Tel cleared his throat. “I need you to meet me somewhere else. I’m sending you the location.”

Even though he couldn’t see her, Elara raised an eyebrow. “Everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Els. Just… see ya there.” And he was gone. A second later her comms beeped and displayed the location he wanted to meet. 

Bemused by her husband’s evasiveness, Elara headed for the transport hub. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long to catch a speeder.

>><<

The location Tel sent her proved to be a midlevel apartment block. Now even more intrigued, Elara double-checked the apartment number and headed up. The apartment door was closed when she reached it, so, in the spirit of playing along, she tapped the buzzer. It opened after only a moment, revealing Tel.

He was wearing a suit. She’d never seen him in a suit. Even their wedding they’d both worn dress uniforms. It wasn’t until this exact moment she regretted that.

Tel grinned in response to her expression and pulled her in for a kiss. “Hey, gorgeous.”

Elara’s fingers instinctively curled around the lapels of his jacket. “What are you doing?” she finally found the presence of mind to murmur.

“Treating my lady right,” he replied, gesturing further in to the apartment. “After you.”

She took a step past him and was very nearly rendered speechless again. The one-room apartment was lit entirely by the soft glow of candlelight, a vase of her favorite flowers sat on the table, surrounded by plates of food that smelled too delicious for words. “Tel… You did all this for me?”

“Well, I sure as hell didn’t do it for Jorgan,” he teased, hand resting at the small of her back.

Elara giggled, then glared at him for spoiling the moment. “You are incorrigible.”

“It’s why you love me,” Tel retorted, flashing a cheesy grin.

“Only in part,” Elara said softly as he pulled out her chair. “Why go through all this trouble?” She quickly double-checked her mental calendar. “It’s not any of our special dates.”

“You seemed really down about how much they were limiting your time with your brother. Thought I’d try to cheer you up.”

“Mission accomplished, Major,” Elara said playfully, pulling him back for a lingering kiss. “Follow-up question, then. How _did_ you get an apartment on such short notice? I know what the Coruscant real estate market is like.”

“I’m borrowing it from Balkar,” Tel admitted with a shrug, circling the table to take his seat. “He’s on Denon, he’s not using it.”

“Clever,” she smiled. “He knows you’re borrowing it, right?”

“’Course. I now owe him almost as many favors as I did for his help with the Deadeyes, and I had to swear on _Glory_ ’s hyperdrive we’d go back to the ship if we were feelin’ frisky. The price of honesty.”

Elara laughed. “One last question, darling.” She leaned forward, elbows pressing against the edge of the table. “You do realize that has set the bar impossibly high for future special occasions and plain old cheer-ups alike?”

“I do,” Tel grinned. “I’ll worry about that when I get to it. For now, I just want to enjoy this dinner, and your lovely smile.”

“Mm, flatterer.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

She didn’t have a comeback for that, and Tel smirked in victory all through dinner. Elara couldn’t say she minded too much.


	5. Hurt prompts- "How long has it been since you slept?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set post-Rise of the Emperor, because that's a good expac for angst and Tel _hates_ feeling helpless

The ship was dark. Elara frowned in concern. Even when they had shore leave, the _Glory_ was never totally dark. Tel had inherited his parents’ thriftiness and refused to rent an apartment or stay in a hotel room when he had a “perfectly good” bunk aboard his ship. She hadn’t seen him in a few days–the whirlwind of hearings and debriefings saw to that–but had assumed he’d be using the _Glory_ as a pseudo-apartment while they were on leave.

Concerned for what the darkness meant, she turned the lights on to a dim setting and started walking through the ship. Room after room was empty, C2 was deactivated, there wasn’t any evidence of sentient occupancy since they’d docked. But just before concern could turn into worry, Elara heard the rasp of something rubbing against durasteel, coming from the direction of the galley. A small pulse of relief shot through her at the sight of Tel slouched against the counter, a mug of something that used to be hot by his elbow, staring absently as he flicked a datapad into a crazy, wobbled spin across the counter.

“Tel?” Even with as quietly as she said it, he flinched. “Darling, what are you doing?”

He looked up and gave her an exhausted smile, eerily accentuated by the light from the datapad. “Keeping myself occupied. How’d… How’d it go visiting your brother?”

“About as you would expect.” Elara turned the lights on low, apologized when he winced anyway. “He had friends stationed on Ziost. We have an aunt and uncle who lived there at one point, but since neither of us can access Imperial records any more, we don’t know if they still do.”

“I’m sorry,” Tel groaned, leaning forward to bury his face in his hands.

“For what? It’s not your fault,” she said, crossing the room to lay a hand on his shoulder.

“Feels like it,” he snorted. “We’ve never lost before. Not on that scale. A whole _planet_ , Els, I just…”

“I know. I was there, love. You did everything you could.”

“It wasn’t enough!” Tel threw the datapad across the room as he straightened to look at her and Elara felt her heart break a little.

_Back rigid, white-knuckle fist pounding against the viewport, jaw working to hold back an ineffectual scream of rage as they watched the planet turn dead grey and couldn’t stop it._

She cupped her hand against his jaw, thumb rubbing over days’ worth of stubble as she studied the dark shadows hanging under his eye, the slump of his shoulders. “How long has it been since you slept?”

Tel just shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

“You’ve been testifying in front of the Senate who-knows-how-many days short on sleep?!” She sighed in exasperation. “Tel…”

“That’s what caf is for,” he protested, trying to joke, but too tired to infuse much humor into the words. She very deliberately moved his mug out of his reach. “I _can’t_ sleep, Els. Every time I close my eyes I see Master Surro, or the grey, petrified remains of plants, or monoliths–”

“Come on.” Elara tugged his arm, and he followed her gentle leading back through the ship to their cabin. She noted with some relief that he was already barefoot. She tugged him into bed and rested his head against her chest so he could hear her heartbeat. “Focus on that.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Focus on _life_. We will find Vitiate. We will defeat him, but we can’t do it if you’re not rested. We need you at your best, darling.”

“I dunno what I’d do without you, gorgeous…” Tel mumbled, asleep almost as soon as the words left his mouth.

Elara bent and kissed the top of his head. “You’ll never have to find out.”


	6. "Nobody's perfect"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ft a guest appearance from my smuggler, Silver, who happens to be Tel's big sister(literally; she's two years older and an inch taller). Set somewhere vaguely post-main game and pre-KotFE

 

Maybe, someday, his sister would be punctual for something other than work. But he wasn’t going to hold his breath. Tel sighed and drummed his fingers against the table until Elara reached over to stop him.

“Dearest, I’m sure they’re on their way,” she said quietly, palm pressing against his knuckles. “They’ll get here.”

“Oh, I’m sure they will,” he replied glibly. “Silver’s just always late for anything not involving credits.”

“We _are_ in a casino,” Elara pointed out with some amusement. “Those come with an abundance of credits.”

“Guaranteed credits, then,” Tel corrected. “She’s not much for gambling, my sister.”

“Then why are we meeting them in a _casino_?” Elara asked, eyes narrowing.

“It seemed, ironically enough, like a low risk environment,” he said. “Somewhere we’d all be comfortable, not too formal. Also,” He leaned over to place a feather light kiss at the corner of her jaw. “it seemed as good an excuse as any to see you dressed to the nines.”

“You know, darling, you’re _very_ lucky you clean up nice yourself,” she murmured.

“Yeah?” He kissed the spot again.

“Mmm. Otherwise I might have to reprimand you for such a clear use of chicanery.”

“I thought I was the senior officer here.”

“That doesn’t absolve you of basic decency, Tel,” Elara returned, amused. “For example, tricking your wife into a fancy dress.”

Tel kissed her temple and murmured, “I’ll happily talk you out of it if you’d prefer…”

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm.” _Behave_ , dearest.”

“Him, behave? You’d have better luck gettin’ him to learn the Alderaanian waltz.” The speaker, a redhead in a midnight blue evening gown, was grinning as she plunked down across the table from them, not waiting for her companion to pull out her chair. “Hey, little brother.”

“Silver, how many times?” Tel sighed, settling his arm around Elara’s shoulders even as he sat back.

Silver chuckled. “Three million and one.” She twirled a loose wisp of hair around her finger. “I’ll prob’ly stop right around when you learn that waltz.”

It was Tel’s turn to grin. “Bad news, sis.”

Silver’s eyes narrowed. “You did _not_.”

“Did. We’ll show you later, if you want.” He felt Elara stiffen slightly and squeezed her shoulder, thumb rubbing small circles on her skin. “First off, though, this is Elara. Elara, as you’ve probably figured out, this my sister, Silver, master of the fashionably late entrance.”

“Hey,we mighta been on time if _someone_ ” –a meaningful look at her husband–  “hadn’t taken forever in the ‘fresher.”

“An’ maybe I wouldn’t’ve taken forever if _someone_ ”–a meaningful look right back–”hadn’t used all the kriffin’ hot water on her turn, Sil,” he shot back good-naturedly.

“So I spaced out in the shower again,” Silver shrugged. “No one’s perfect.”

“Lies and slander,” Tel protested, smirking at the playful banter as he called up the drinks list for them to order. “Elara is.”

“No, I’m not,” Elara said quickly, bemused gleam in her eye. “He just think I am.”

“Yeah, Corso’s got that goin’, too,” Silver laughed, nudging him with her elbow.

“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about,” Corso drawled, grinning with faux-innocence. “You leave too many dirty socks on the floor for me to ever put ya on that kinda pedestal.”

“She still does that?” Tel laughed. “Save yourself some trouble, Corso, don’t try to change her. She’s been doin’ it since she was six, you ain’t gonna get her change.”

“Like you don’t have any of your bad habits left,” Silver snorted.

“Nope, military beat ‘em all out of me,” Tel said, crossing his arms and smirking.

“Oh, so you always make the bed?”

“Yep.”

“Clean up after yourself when you’re done in the ‘fresher?”

“Yep.”

“Stopped mutterin’ along with holovids when you have the dialogue memorized?”

“No, that he still does,” Elara said sweetly, shooting Tel an impish smile as he started to protest.

“Ha!” Silver crowed triumphantly as a serving droid rolled up with their drinks.

“Hell, Sil, you do the same thing,” Corso chuckled, playfully poking her in the ribs.

“Traitor,” she muttered, rolling her eyes, “and no, I don’t! I offer runnin’ commentary on whatever I’m watchin’.”

“Same difference,” Tel said, taking a swallow of his drink.

“No,” Silver said with an exaggerated sigh. “Quotin’ along in annoyin’, commentary is entertainment.”

“Sweetheart, as someone who’s watched a lot of holovids with you, it’s both.” Corso grinned, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. “Which is a fun combo, don’t get me wrong. Just… don’t oversell.”

“ _Traitor_ ,” she repeated, but she was smiling impishly. “You’re lucky I love ya.”

“I sure am,” Corso agreed, his grin widening.

Silver laughed and leaned over to kiss him.

“Alright, sis, behave,” Tel teased, earning himself a death glare from Silver as she kissed her husband even longer. _Yeah, shoulda seen that coming.._.

The easy banter proved to be a precedent for the evening, and all four of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Tel proved to Silver that he _could_ dance an Alderaanian waltz, _thank you very much_ , she proved she and Corso could dance it even _better_ , and he got to hear Elara genuinely laugh more times in relatively close succession than he ever had before.

“You had fun, huh?” Tel asked with a smile as he and Elara made their way back to the _Glory_.

“I did,” she said warmly, reaching for his hand. “You talk about your family so much, I’m glad I finally got to meet at least one of them.” They walked in silence for a moment before she continued, “Dearest, did you know you slip back into slang around your sister?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. He punched the call button for the hanger elevator. “Military tried to polish it outta me, but I backslide when I’m around people who make me feel comfortable. I do it around you, too, just not as bad.”

Elara smiled. “I like it. It suits you, somehow, to have that attachment to your family.”

“I’m not the only one, Els,” Tel pointed out as they rode down to the hanger.  “Your accent’s stronger whenever you visit Aleksei.”

“Is it?” She played with one of her bangle bracelets. “I hadn’t noticed.”

He wasn’t sure he believed that, but Tel let it slide, instead commenting with a wink, “Yeah, it’s pretty sexy,” as they stepped into the hanger, still hand in hand, and walked toward the ship.

Elara laughed softly and shook her head. “Sexy? Really, darling? Don’t you think you’re a _tad_ biased?”

“Who, me? About you? _Never_ ,” Tel said with an innocent smile as they headed up the boarding ramp.

“Says the man who claimed I was perfect not five hours ago,” she countered, kissing him on the cheek.

“You are,” he insisted, punching the door controls behind him.

“Tel. Dearest. No, I’m not,” she insisted, letting her hair loose from its bun as she mounted the steps to their quarters.

“Elara. Sweetheart.” He followed her up and caught her hands in his, tugging her close. “You are for me.”  He ran his fingers gently through her hair.

“You know, you really shouldn’t put people on pedestals,” Elara murmured, resting her forehead against his cheek.

“Too late,” Tel whispered back. He felt the rush of warm air against the side of his neck as Elara snorted another soft laugh. But she didn’t say anything, and followed his lead when he kicked off his shoes and pulled her into a slower, gentle reprise of their waltz, accompanied by music only they could hear. _Absolutely perfect,_ Tel thought as he kissed her forehead and enjoyed the moment.


	7. Kiss prompt- One the nose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I got this one, I was gonna fill it with one of my other pairings, but Tel wanted to snuggle his wife and who can blame him, really? So Telara it is. :D (And OH GOD the fluff) Set post-War for Iokath, i.e. right after they're reunited

 

He wished he could have more lazy mornings like this.

But the saying about no rest for the wicked still held true, even when the proverbial wicked were saving the damn galaxy. Any minute, the room comms would be chirping with Lana requesting he meet her to discuss something or other that was desperately important. Tel was already contemplating the best way to politely tell her to shove off. He was still snuggled and warm in bed, Elara’s head tucked up under his chin, and had no intention of moving for the next couple hours at least.

Tel played lazily with the trailing end of his wife’s braid, noting it came a couple inches farther down her back than he remembered as he brushed his thumb over frizzy escaping bits.

The idle thought made his chest tighten and he almost instinctively wrapped his arms around her, as if something else was going to try and rip them apart for five more years. Elara murmured nonsense in her sleep and her hand slid higher on his chest. Tel smiled and kissed the top of her head in response. Kriffing _stars_ , he’d missed her. It was only a couple more minutes before Elara stirred, a soft hum of pleasure catching in her throat as her arm snaked up to circle his neck. Tel kissed the top of her head again and watched a sleepy smile spread across her face.

She tilted her chin to look up at him. “When did you turn into a morning person, dearest?”

He grinned. “Who says I have at all? Maybe I just wanted to stare at my gorgeous wife and revel in the fact I have her back.”

“Can’t say I mind that _that_ hasn’t changed,” Elara chuckled, amused. She brushed her thumb along his jaw. “Or that I was wrong in thinking you’d be gone for meetings already when I woke.”

Tel snorted. “Lana’ll probably be buggin’ me about that any minute. I’m sure they can manage without me for a couple hours.”

“Tel…” There was a familiar half-hearted reprimand in the way she said his name as she sat up. (He’d missed that, too. Not that he’d ever tell her that.) “The Alliance is important, darling, you can’t just-”

“You’re more important, Els, and yes, I can.” He wriggled toward a half-sitting position and tugged her back in. “Besides, I recently had a narrow brush with death. I need more time to recover.”

She laughed and shook her head but did snuggle close again. “No, you don’t. The–in your words–’best damn medic in the galaxy’ made certain you were back to one hundred percent before you left Iokath.”

“Hey, no fair using my own words to undermine an attempt to spend more time with you,” Tel protested, laughing, as he kissed her forehead. “Lana and Theron are perfectly capable of running things without me. Let me make flimsiplast-thin excuses and cuddle, would you?”

“I’d love nothing more,” Elara said, running one finger along the neckline of his tank top and biting her lip. “But we _did_ just have the entire night together, and we both have responsibilities, and we’ll have ample opportunity later–for the foreseeable future, in fact–to spend more time together. In fact” –her eyes sparked with mischief– “we get to do this again tonight, and tomorrow night, and every other night. And the earlier we get started on our respective days, the earlier we finish.”

“Oh, stop it with your logic,” he huffed in mock-annoyance. _Gods_ , he loved it when she smiled like that. “Fine, when Lana comms we’ll get up. But not before.”

As if summoned by his concession, the room’s comm unit chirped.  “Commander? If you’re awake, we need to go over the after-action reports from Iokath.”

Tel growled and was ready to throw something at the squawking panel, but Elara grabbed his wrist before he could move and shot him a saccharine sweet smile as she replied, “He’ll be there shortly, Lana.” There was a brief confirmation from the Sith and then the comm fell silent. Elara kissed his cheek. “Well, then. Time to get up, dearest.”

He sighed and fought down the urge to protest as she pushed away once more.  “Oh, fine. We can go be responsible. If we have to.”

“We do,” Elara said fondly as she pulled her braid over her shoulder. She tugged out the tie and finger-combed the black waves loose before twisting them up in her usual bun. “At least for a while.”

Tel scooted closer and kissed the back of her neck. “I’m holding you to the ‘a while’ part, Els,” he murmured, thumb rubbing circles on her shoulder. “We have five damn years to catch up on, and I missed you something awful.”

“Oh, I feel the same, believe me,” she replied, turning and cupping his jaw to steal a proper kiss. “But there are things that require our attention, dearest.” She ran her fingers through his hair and playfully kissed the tip of his nose. “Wouldn’t want the galaxy to crumble around us, would we?”

“I guess not,” Tel said with a sigh as they both climbed out of bed. _Still say they could manage for a couple hours…._ He hooked one finger under the strap of Elara’s top and gently tugged her back into easy reach. “One more kiss, then? Before we start the day?”

Elara arched a brow. “ _One_ more?” 

He grinned, tipping her chin up with his thumb. “For now,” he said softly as she obliged.

She’d been right to doubt; there were three more kisses exchanged as they dressed and went through the other preparations for the day, and a fourth before they parted ways at the door to the war room.

 It still wasn’t enough for him, not really, but Elara had been right; they had plenty of time. And Tel planned to take _full_ advantage of it.


End file.
